_Second Supplement, being the Voyage of Mr John Winter, after parting
from Sir Francis Drake_.[41]
We passed Cape Deseado into the South Sea on the 6th September, 1578,
and run to the N.W. about 70 leagues, when the wind turned directly
against us, with extremely foul weather, as rain, hail, snow, and thick
fogs, and so continued for more than three weeks, during which time we
could bear no sail, and were driven into the latitude of 57° S. On the
15th September, the moon was eclipsed, beginning to be darkened
immediately after sun-set, about six in the evening, being then the
vernal equinox in this southern hemisphere. This eclipse happened in
England on the 16th before one in the morning, which is about six hours
difference, agreeing to one quarter of the circumference of the globe,
from the meridian of England to the west.
[Footnote 41: Hakluyt, IV. 253.--This narrative is said to have been
written by Edward Cliffe, mariner. Only so much of the narrative is
given here as relates to the voyage of Winter, after parting from Sir
Francis Drake. One circumstance only may be mentioned, respecting the
Patagons.--"These men be of no such stature as the Spaniards report,
being but of the height of Englishmen; for I have seen men in England
taller than I could see any of them. Peradventure the Spaniards did not
think that any Englishmen would have come hither so soon, to have
disproved them in this and divers others of their notorious lies;
wherefore they presumed more boldly to abuse the world."--Yet even
recent voyagers have presumed to _abuse the world_, with reporting that
the Patagons are of gigantic stature.--E.]
The last of September, being a very foul night, we lost the Marigold, a
bark of about thirty tons, the Pelican, which was our general's ship,
and our ship the Elizabeth running to the eastwards, to get to the land.
Of this we got sight on the 7th October, falling into a very dangerous
bay, full of rocks; and that same night we lost company of Mr Drake.
Next day, very difficultly escaping from the dangerous rocks among which
we were embayed, we got again into the Straits of Magellan, where we
anchored in an open bay for two days, making great fires on the shore,
that Mr Drake might find us, if he also came into the straits.
We then went into a sound, where we remained about three weeks, naming
it _The Port of Health_, as most of our men, having been sick with long
watching, wet, cold, and bad diet, did wonderfully recover their health
here in a short space, for which praised be God. We found here muscles
of very great size, some being twenty inches long, yielding very
pleasant meat, and many of them full of seed pearls. We came out of this
harbour on the 1st November, abandoning our voyage by compulsion of Mr.
Winter, sore against the will of the mariners. Mr. Winter alleged that
he despaired of having winds to carry him to the coast of Peru, and was
also in fear that Mr. Drake had perished. So we went back again to the
eastwards through the straits, to St. George's island, where we laid in
a quantity of a certain kind of fowl, very plentiful in that island, the
meat of which is not much unlike that of a fat English goose. They have
no wings, but only short pinions, which serve them in swimming, being of
a black colour, mixed with white spots on their bellies and round their
necks. They walk so upright, that they seem afar like little children;
and when approached they conceal themselves in holes under ground, not
very deep, of which the island is full. To take them, we used sticks
having hooks fastened at one end, with which we pulled them out, while
other men stood by with cudgels to knock them on the head; for they bit
so cruelly with their hooked bills, that we could not handle them when
alive.[42]
[Footnote 42: It is almost unnecessary to remark that these were
penguins.--E.]
Departing from St. George's island, we passed Cape Virgin[43] on the
11th November, going out of the straits into the southern Atlantic
ocean, and directed our course to the N.E. till the last day of that
month, when we arrived at an island in the mouth of the _Rio de la
Plata_, or River of Silver. On this island there is an incredible number
of seals, some of which are sixteen feet long, not fearing the approach
of men. Most of our men were ashore in this island for fifteen days,
setting up a pinnace; during which time the seals would often come and
sleep beside our men, rather resisting them than giving place, unless
when mortal blows forced them to yield. Having finished our pinnace, we
went to another island, where we watered, and afterwards departed on the
1st January, 1579. We went to the northwards till the 20th of that
month, when we came to an island on the coast of Brazil, near a town
called St Vincent, inhabited by the Portuguese, which is in lat. 24° S.
Here we lost our pinnace in foul weather, together with her crew of
eight men. And here also our ship was in great danger, in consequence of
a strong current, which almost forced her on shore before we were aware,
so that we had to drop anchor in the open sea, broke our cable and lost
our anchor, and had to let fell another, in weighing which afterwards
our men were sore distressed; for, owing to the heaving of the ship with
the sea, the capstan ran round with so much violence as to throw the men
from the bars, dashed out the brains of one man, broke the leg of
another, and severely hurt several more. At length we hove up our
anchor, and ran to a place called Tanay. where we rode under the lee of
an island, whence we had a supply of wood and water.
[Footnote 43: Called Cape Victory by Mr Cliffe.--E.]
While at this place, three Portuguese came aboard in a canoe, desiring
to know who we were and what we wanted. Our captain made answer, that we
were Englishmen, and had brought commodities with us for their country,
if they would trade with us, at which they seemed much surprised, as
they said they had never before heard of any English ship being in that
country. So they went ashore, taking one of our men with them to speak
with the governor of the town, while we detained one of the Portuguese
as a pledge. Soon after there came another canoe on board, in which was
one Portuguese, all the rest being naked natives of the country. From
this man we had two small oxen, a young hog, and several fowls, with
pome-citrons, lemons, oranges, and other fruits, for which our captain
gave them linen cloth, combs, knives, and other articles of small value.
In the mean time, the governor of the town sent word that we should have
nothing, unless the ship was brought into the harbour, to which our
captain would not consent, lest they might betray us.
Receiving back our man, and returning the Portuguese pledge, we went
afterwards to the island of St. Sebastian, where we took fish. At this
place the Portuguese would have betrayed us, had not a Brasilian slave
informed us by signs, that they were coming in canoes to take us, as it
actually fell out: For, next morning, they came on in twelve or fourteen
canoes, some of these having forty men; but being on our guard they
retired. That same night, two of our men carried away our boat,
deserting to the Portuguese. Leaving this place, we had sight of Cape St
Augustine in lat. 8° S. We afterwards had sight of the isle of Fernando
Noronha, within three degrees of the equator. We crossed the line on the
13th of April, and got sight of the north star on the 19th of that
month.
From the 1st to the 5th of May, we sailed about 100 leagues through the
_Sea of Weeds_, under the tropic of Cancer. Holding our course from
thence to the N.E. till we were in lat. 47° N. we changed our course on
the 22nd May to E.N.E. The 29th of May we had soundings in seventy
fathoms on white ooze, being then in lat. 51° N. The 30th of May we got
sight of St Ives on the north coast of Cornwall, and arrived on the 2nd
of June at Ilfracomb, in Devonshire.
CHAPTER III.
VOYAGE OF SIR THOMAS CANDISH ROUND THE WORLD, IN 1586--1588.[44]
INTRODUCTION.
It was the constant policy, during the reign of queen Elizabeth, to
encourage, as much as possible, the flame of public spirit in private
individuals, by shewing the utmost readiness on all occasions to honour
all who performed any remarkable service to their country, though
sparing of such marks of favour on other occasions. By this wise
conduct, and by her frequent public discourses on the glory resulting
from an active life, she excited many of the young nobility, and
gentlemen of easy fortunes, to hazard their persons and estates in the
public service, exciting a desire of fame even among the wealthy, and by
this means uniting the rich, who desired to purchase honour, and the
indigent, who sought to procure the means of living, in the same
pursuits. It thus happened in her reign, that such men were of most use
to their country, as are scarcely of any utility in other reigns; for,
merit being then the only recommendation at court, those were most
forward to expose themselves in generous undertakings, who would at any
other time have thought themselves excused from such dangers and
fatigues.
[Footnote 44: Hakluyt, IV. 816. Harris, Col. I. 23. Callender, Voy. I.
424. The earliest account of this voyage, according to the Bibliotheque
Universelle des Voyages, I. 113, appears to have been published in Dutch
at Amsterdam, in folio, in 1598. But must assuredly have been a
translation from the English.--E.]
Thus the earls of Cumberland and Essex, Sir Richard Greenvile, Sir
Walter Raleigh, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Robert Dudley, and, many other
persons of rank and fortune, employed great sums of money, and exposed
themselves to the greatest dangers, in expeditions against the
Spaniards, making discoveries in distant parts of the world, and
planting colonies, which were the glory of those times. Among these, no
one distinguished himself more than the gentleman whose voyage forms the
subject of this chapter: whether we consider the expence he incurred,
the difficulties he encountered, or the success of his enterprise; all
of which proceeded from that greatness of mind and ardent desire of
fame, which taught him to despise danger and to encounter fatigue, at an
age when most men of fortune think the season of youth a sufficient
excuse for the indulgence of luxury and ease.
Thomas Candish, or Cavendish, of Trimley, in the county of Suffolk,
Esquire, was a gentleman of an honourable family and large estate, which
lay in the neighbourhood of Ipswich, then a place of very considerable
trade. This circumstance gave him an early inclination for the sea,
which he gratified as soon as he came of age, by selling part of his
estate, and employing the money in equipping a stout bark of 120 tons,
called the Tiger, in which he accompanied Sir Richard Greenvile in his
voyage to Virginia in 1585. In this expedition he underwent many dangers
and difficulties, without any profit, but returned safe to Falmouth on
the 6th October of the same year. This want of success did not
discourage him from undertaking still greater and more hazardous
expeditions. Having, in his voyage to Virginia, seen a considerable part
of the Spanish West Indies, and conversed with some persons who had
sailed with Sir Francis Drake in, his circumnavigation, he became
desirous of undertaking a similar voyage, as well for repairing the loss
he had sustained in this first expedition, as to emulate that great and
fortunate commander, who was now raised to the highest honours in his
profession.
Returning home, therefore, he immediately applied himself to make such
preparations as were necessary for the accomplishment of his new design;
and either sold or mortgaged his estate, to procure a sufficient sum for
building and equipping two such ships as he deemed requisite for the
voyage; using such diligence, that his carpenters were at work upon his
largest ship within a month, and in six months more his little squadron
was entirely finished, and completely supplied with every necessary for
the voyage.
The narrative of this voyage is chiefly taken from that given by Harris,
compared and corrected from that in the collection of Hakluyt, which is
said to have been written by Mr. Francis Pretty of Eye, in Suffolk, a
gentleman who sailed, in the expedition. In Hakluyt, this
circumnavigation is thus styled:--"The admirable and prosperous voyage
of the worshipful Mr. Thomas Candish of Trimley, in the county of
Suffolk, Esquire, into the South Sea, and from thence round about the
circumference of the whole earth, began in the year of our Lord 1586,
and finished 1588."
SECTION I.
_Narrative of the Voyage from England to the Pacific_.
The larger ship of this little squadron was named the Desire, of 140
tons burden, and the lesser the Content of 60 tons, to which was added a
bark of 40 tons, called the Hugh Gallant, all supplied at his own
expence with two years provisions, and manned with 123 officers and men,
most of them men of experience, and some of whom had served under Sir
Francis Drake. For their better encouragement, he entered into a fair
agreement with them, with respect to the proportions in which all prizes
should be shared among them. He was likewise careful in providing maps,
sea charts, and draughts, and all such accounts as could be procured of
voyages already made into those parts which he intended to visit.
Likewise, by means of his patron, Lord Hansdon, the lord-chamberlain, he
procured a commission from Queen Elizabeth.
Having thus completed his preparations, he set out from London on the
10th July, 1586, for Harwich, where he embarked in the Desire, and
sailed thence for Plymouth, where he arrived on the 18th, and waited
there for some of his company till the 21st of that month, when he
hoisted sail on his intended voyage. On the 25th of that month, one Mr.
Hope died, of a wound received in a duel, during their stay at Plymouth.
Next day, they fell in with five ships of Biscay, well manned, coming,
as they supposed, from the great bank of Newfoundland, which attacked
the Desire; but Mr. Candish gave them so warm a reception, that they
were glad to sheer off, and continued their course without giving him
any farther disturbance. As it grew dark, and he feared losing sight of
his consorts, Mr. Candish did not continue the chase.
They fell in with the island of Fuertaventura, on the 1st August, whence
they sailed for Rio del Oro and Cape Blanco, and thence along the coast
of Guinea, with which navigation Mr Brewer, who sailed in the Desire,
was well acquainted. The men now began to complain much of the scurvy,
wherefore it was resolved to put them on shore for their recovery on the
first opportunity. They made Sierra Leona on the 23d of August, and
reached its southern side on the 25th, where they had five fathoms at
the lowest ebb; having had for about fourteen leagues, while running
into this harbour, from eight to sixteen fathoms. At this place they
destroyed a negro town, because the inhabitants had killed one of their
men with a poisoned arrow. Some of the men went four miles up the
harbour in a boat, on the 3d September, where they caught plenty of
fish; and going on shore, procured some lemons. They saw also some
buffaloes, on their return to the ship. The 6th they went out of the
harbour of Sierra Leona, and staid one tide three leagues from the point
at its mouth, the tide there flowing S.W.
The 7th they departed for one of the islands which lie about ten leagues
from the point of Sierra Leona, called the Banana isles,[45] and
anchored that same day off the principal isle, on which they only found
a few plantains. At the east end of this island they found a town, but
no inhabitants, and concluded that the negroes sometimes resort thither,
by seeing the remains of their provisions. There is no fresh water on
the south side of this island that they could find; but there is in
three or four places on its north side. The whole island was one entire
wood, except a few small cleared spots where some huts stood, and these
were encompassed by plantain-trees, the fruit of which is an excellent
food. This place is subject to severe thunder-storms, with much rain, in
September.
[Footnote 45: Harris erroneously names these the islands of Cape Verd,
which are at a vast distance from Sierra Leona. The Banana isles are in
lat. 8° N. and long. 12° 30' W. from Greenwich. In Hakluyt these are
called the isles of Madrabumba, and are said to be ten leagues from the
point of Sierra Leona.--E.]
Leaving these islands and the African coast on the 10th September, and
holding their course W.S.W. obliquely across the Atlantic, they fell in
with a great mountain in Brazil, on the 31st of October, twenty-four
leagues from Cape _Frio_. This mountain has a high round top, shewing
from afar like a little town. On the 1st November, they stood in between
the island of St Sebastian and the main; where they carried their things
on shore, and erected a forge, and built a pinnace, repairing also every
thing that was out of order, in which work they were detained till the
23d of November. Sailing from this place on the 26th, they fell in with
the coast of South America again in lat. 47° 20' S. whence they
proceeded along shore till they came to lat. 48° S. finding a steep
beach all along. On the 27th of November they came to a harbour, into
which Candish first entered, giving it the name of Port Desire, from
that of his ship.[46] Near this harbour they found an island or two well
stocked with seals, and another in which there were vast numbers of grey
gulls.[47]
[Footnote 46: As laid down in modern maps, the latitude of Port Desire
is only 47° 15' S.]
[Footnote 47: Probably penguins.--E.]
This haven of Port Desire was found very favourable for careening and
graving of ships, as the tide there ebbed and flowed considerably. At
this place the savages wounded two of the Englishmen with their arrows,
which were made of canes or reeds, tipt with sharpened flints. These
savage natives of the country round Port Desire were exceedingly wild
and rude, and as it would seem of a gigantic race, as the measure of one
of their foot marks was eighteen inches long.[48] This agrees well with
the assertion of Magellan, though some pains have been taken to
represent that as fabulous. Magellan called this country Patagonia, and
its inhabitants Patagons, meaning to signify that they were five cubits,
or _seven feet and a half high_. Hence, as the Portuguese are not
commonly very tall, we need not wonder if they styled them giants. If we
take the usual proportion of the human foot, as between a fifth and a
sixth part of the height of the whole body, the account given by
Magellan agrees very exactly with this fact afforded us by Mr Candish;
and it will be seen in the sequel, that this is not falsified by any of
our subsequent navigators. When any of these savages die, he is buried
in a grave constructed of stones near the sea-side, all his darts being
fastened about his tomb, and his treasure, consisting of shells, laid
under his head.
[Footnote 48: Without meaning to impugn the received opinion, that the
Patagons are beyond the ordinary size of man, it may be permitted to
say, that the evidence, in the text, the only one here adduced, is
altogether inconclusive; and the subsequent reflections are evidently
those of Harris, not of Candish.--E.]
They left Port Desire on the 28th December, and anchored near an island
three leagues to the southward. The 30th they came to a rock, much like
the Eddystone at Plymouth, about five leagues off the land, in lat 48°
30' S. and within a mile of it had soundings in eight fathoms, on rocky
ground. Continuing their course along shore S.S.W. they found vast
numbers of seals every where on the coast. January 2d, 1587, they fell
in with a great white cape in lat. 52° S. and had seven fathoms within a
league of the cape. Next day they came to another cape, in lat. 52° 45'
S. whence runs a long beach about a league to the southwards, reaching
to the opening into the Straits of Magellan.[49] January 6th, they
entered the straits, which they found in some places five or six leagues
wide, but in others considerably narrower. The 7th, between the mouth of
the straits and its narrowest part, they took a Spaniard, who had been
left there with twenty-three others of that nation, being all that
remained alive of four hundred, who had been landed three years before
in these straits. This Spaniard shewed them the hull of a small bark,
supposed to have been left by Sir Francis Drake.
[Footnote 49: The cape at the north side of the eastern entrance into
the Straits of Magellan, is named Cape Virgin, and is in lat 52° 28' S.
The great white cape in lat. 52° S. is not so easily ascertained. Cape
Blanco, on this coast, is in lat. 47° S. which cannot have any reference
to the white cape of the text.--E.]
The eastern mouth of the straits is in lat. 52° S. From thence to the
narrowest part is fourteen leagues W. by N. From thence to Penguin
Island is ten leagues W.S.W. by S. They anchored at Penguin Island on
the 8th January, where they killed and salted a great store of seals, to
serve as sea provisions in case of need. Leaving this place on the 9th,
they sailed S.S.W. The fortress built in these straits by the Spaniards,
called _Ciudad del Rey Felippe_, had four bulwarks or bastions, in each
of which was one large cannon, all of which had been buried, and their
carriages left standing. The English dug them all up, and carried them
away. Tins city seemed to have been well contrived, especially in its
situation in regard to wood and water; but miserable was the life this
forlorn remnant of Spaniards had endured for the last two years, during
which they had hardly been able to procure any other food than a scanty
supply of shell-fish, except when they had the good fortune to surprise
a deer, coming down from the mountains in search of water.
The object of the Spaniards, in erecting this fortress, was to have
fortified the straits, so as to have excluded all other nations from any
passage into the South Sea: but, besides the barrenness of the soil, and
excessive severity of the climate their most implacable enemies, the
Indians, frequently assailed them, so that they were reduced to the last
extremity of distress. All the stores they had brought from Spain were
expended, and none could be procured in the country, which produced
nothing but deer, and when hunting these for the preservation of their
lives, they were sure to be fallen upon by the Indians. At length almost
all the Spaniards died in their houses, and the stench of the putrefying
carcasses became so intolerable to the few survivors, that they were
forced to quit the fortress, and to range along the seacoast living upon
roots, leaves, and sea weeds, or any animals they could occasionally
fall in with. In this miserable extremity they had determined to attempt
exploring their way to the Rio Plata, and were already on their way,
when this Spaniard was taken by the English.
Mr Candish named the haven where the fortress stood _Port Famine_, owing
to the utter want of all necessaries. It is in lat. 53° S. Leaving this
place on the 14th, they ran five leagues S.W. to Cape Froward, in the
southernmost part of the straits, in lat. 54° S. Sailing five leagues W.
by N. from this cape, they put into a bay, called Muscle Cove, from the
great quantities of muscles found there. Leaving that place on the 21st,
and sailing N. by W. ten leagues, they came to a fair bay, which Candish
named Elizabeth Bay. Leaving that place on the 22d, they found a good
river two leagues farther on, up which a boat was towed for three miles.
The country about this river was pleasant and level, but all the other
land on both sides of the straits was rugged, mountainous, and rocky,
inhabited by a strong and well-made, but very brutish kind of savages,
who are said to have eaten many of the Spaniards, and seemed much
disposed to have feasted also on English flesh; but they failed in their
attempts to circumvent them. Discovering a plot laid by these savages to
entrap him and his men, Candish gave them a volley of musquetry, which
slew several of them, and the rest ran away.
Leaving this river, they sailed two leagues farther, to an inlet named
St Jerome's channel; whence, proceeding three or four leagues W. they
came to a cape to the northward, whence the course to the western
entrance of the straits is N.W. and N.W. by W. for about thirty-four
leagues; so that the entire length of these straits is ninety leagues.
This western entrance is in lat. 52° 40' S. nearly under the same
parallel with the eastern mouth. In consequence of storms and excessive
rains, they were forced to remain in a harbour near this western mouth
of the straits till the 23d of February. By the excessive rains, pouring
down with extreme fury in torrents from the mountains, they were brought
into extreme danger; and were also much distressed for want of food, as
the excessive severity of the weather hardly permitted their landing,
to range the country in search of a supply In their passage through
these straits, it was observed that there were harbours on both shores,
at every mile or two, tolerably safe and convenient for small ships.
SECTION II.
_Transactions on the Western Coast of America_.
The weather moderating, they entered into the great South Sea, or
Pacific Ocean, on the 24th February, 1587, observing on the south side
of the entrance a very high cape, with an adjoining low point; while, at
the northern side of the entrance there were four or five islands, six
leagues from the main land, having much broken and sunken ground among
and around them. In the night of the 1st March, there arose a great
storm, in which they lost sight of the Hugh Gallant, being then in lat.
49° S. and forty-five leagues from the land. This storm lasted three or
four days, in which time the Hugh sprung a leak, and was tossed about in
this unknown sea, devoid of all help, being every moment ready to sink.
By great exertions, however, she was kept afloat; and on the 15th, in
the morning, she got in between the island of St Mary and the main,
where she again met the admiral and the Content, which two ships had
secured themselves during two days of the storm, at the island of Mocha,
in lat. 38° S'.[50]
[Footnote 50: Mocha is in lat. 38° 20', and the isles of St Mary in 37°,
both S.]
At this place some of the company went ashore well armed, and were met
by the Indians, who gave them a warm reception with their bows and
arrows. These Indians were of the district in Chili called Araucania, a
country rich in gold, and consequently very tempting to the avaricious
Spaniards, which accordingly they had repeatedly invaded, but to no
purpose, as the natives always defended themselves so valiantly, that
their enemies could never subdue them. On the present occasion,
mistaking the English for Spaniards, these brave and desperate Araucans
gave Candish a hostile welcome. After this skirmish, Candish went with
his ships under the lee of the west side of St Mary's island, where he
found good anchorage in six fathoms. This island, in lat. 37° S. abounds
in hogs, poultry, and various kinds of fruit; but the inhabitants are
held under such absolute slavery by the Spaniards, that they dare not
kill a hog, or even a hen, for their own use; and although the Spaniards
have made them converts to Christianity, they use them more like dogs
than men or Christians.
The admiral went ashore on the 16th March, with seventy or eighty men
well armed, and was met by two Indian chiefs, who conducted him to a
chapel, round which were several store-houses, well filled with wheat
and barley, as clean and fair as any in England. He accordingly provided
his ships with a sufficient store of grain from this place, and laid in
besides an ample supply of hogs, hens, potatoes, dried dog-fish, and
maize or Guinea wheat. The admiral invited the two principal Indians to
an entertainment on board; and the wine having sharpened their wit, to
perceive that the admiral and his men were not Spaniards, as they had
hitherto supposed them, they began to talk very freely about the gold
mines, saying that the English might procure gold to their full content,
by going into the country of the Araucans. But not fully understanding
them, as the information was mostly given by signs, the admiral did not
prosecute this proposed adventure, but proceeded on his voyage.
Leaving the island of St Mary on the 18th in the morning, they sailed
all that day N.N.E. ten leagues. The 19th they steered in with the land,
E.N.E. and anchored under an island in the Bay of Conception, in lat.
36° 36' S. The 30th they came into the Bay of Quintero, in lat. 32° 45'
S. and next day a party of fifty or sixty men, well armed, marched seven
or eight miles into the country. In their march, they saw vast herds of
wild cattle, with horses, dogs, hares, rabbits, partridges, and other
birds, with many fine rivers, well stocked with wild fowl. Having
travelled as far as they conveniently could for the mountains, and
having rested and refreshed on the banks of a pleasant river, they
returned in good order to the ships at night, without meeting any
remarkable adventure; although a party of 200 horse had been abroad all
that day in search of them, upon information of some Spaniards who had
seen them the preceding day, but durst not venture to attack them,
keeping always at a distance on the hills. They had at this time a short
conference with three Spanish horsemen, through the medium of the poor
half-starved Spaniard they took on board in the Straits of Magellan;
but, in spite of his many oaths and protestations never to forsake
Candish, he took the opportunity to mount on horseback behind one of his
countrymen, and got off.
Next day, the 1st April, some of the English being on shore filling
their water-casks, the Spaniards became bolder, and watching an
opportunity when the sailors were hard at work, poured down with their
200 horse from the hills, slew some of them, and made a few prisoners.
But this glorious victory was soon snatched from their hands by the
arrival of a reinforcement of fifteen English, who rescued the
prisoners, killed twenty-four of the Spaniards, and drove the rest back
to the mountains. After this, they continued in the road till the 5th,
and watered there in spite of the Spaniards. On the 5th they weighed
anchor, and went to a small island about a league from the bay, which is
full of penguins and other sea fowl, of which they provided themselves
with what store they wanted; after which they sailed N. and N. by W. in
order to prosecute their voyage.
The 15th April they came to _Moro Moreno_, in lat. 23° 30' S. under the
tropic of Capricorn, where there is an excellent harbour, made by means
of an island, having an entrance for ships at either end. The admiral
went ashore here with thirty men, and was met by the Indians, who
brought them water and wood on their backs. These are a simple sort of
people, living in a wild and savage manner, in great dread of the
Spaniards. They brought the admiral and his company to their houses,
about two miles from the harbour. These were only constructed of a few
rafters laid across upon forked sticks stuck in the ground, having a few
boughs laid over them by way of a roof. Their beds were the skins of
wild beasts laid on the ground; and their food little else than raw
stinking fish. When any of them dies, he is buried with all his arms and
goods, as bows and arrows, and even his canoe is laid in the earth along
with him. Their canoes, if such they may be called, consist of two skin
bags, like large bladders, blown up with quills at one end, and fastened
together by the sinews of some wild beast; yet in these they think
nothing of venturing to sea, loading them even with great quantities of
fish, part of which they have to give in tribute to the Spaniards, the
rest being kept to stink for their own eating.
On the 3d May, they came into a bay on which were three small towns,
Paracca, Chincha, and Pisco, which latter is in lat. 13° 20' S.[51] They
landed here, and took some provisions, as wine, bread, poultry and figs,
from the houses, but could not get ashore at the best of these towns,
owing to the sea running too high. By this time; they had made two
valuable prizes, laden with sugar, melasses, maiz, cordovan leather,
_montego de porco_, packs of painted calicoes, Indian coats, marmalade,
hens, and other articles, which would have yielded £20,000, if there had
been any opportunity for selling their cargoes. That not being the case,
they took out as much as could be conveniently stowed in their own
ships, burning their two prizes with the rest of their contents.
[Footnote 51: Pisco, the principal of these towns, is in lat. 16° 43'
S.]
The 26th May, they came into the road Payta, in lat. 5° 4' S. the town
being very neat and clean, and containing about 200 houses. Landing here
with sixty or seventy men, Candish had a skirmish with the inhabitants,
whom he beat out of the town, forcing them to take refuge in the hills,
whence they continued to fire at the English, but would not venture a
fair battle on the plain ground. Having possessed themselves of the
town, the English marched after the enemy on the hill, and put them
completely to the rout, seizing all their baggage, which they brought
back with them to the town. They here found all sort of household stuff,
together with warehouses well filled with various kinds of goods, and
twenty-five pound weight of silver in pieces of eight. After taking away
what plunder they found convenient, they set fire to the town, which was
burnt to the ground, and destroyed likewise a bark at anchor in the
roads; after which they set sail for Puna.
They arrived at Puna, in lat. 3° 10' S. on the 25th of May, when they
found a ship of 250 tons at anchor in the harbour. After sinking her,
they went ashore. The lord of this island, styled the Caçique of Puna,
was an Indian by birth, but having married a Spanish woman, he became a
Christian, and made all his subjects follow his example. He had a
sumptuous and well-contrived palace near the shore, with curious gardens
adjoining, and fair prospects, both to the water and up the country. All
the inhabitants of this island were kept continually employed in
fabricating cables, such abundance of which are made here by the Indian
subjects of this caçique; that most of the ships navigating the South
Sea are supplied from hence. This island is nearly as large as the isle
of Wight in England, being about forty English miles from S.W. to N.E.
and sixteen in the opposite direction. It enjoys a great share in the
blessings of nature; for, although it has no mines of gold or silver, it
affords every thing in abundance that is necessary to the comforts of
life. The pastures are excellent, and are well stored with horses, oxen,
sheep, and goats, yielding abundance of milk; it has also plenty of
poultry, turkeys, ducks of a large size, and pigeons. The caçique has
several orchards, yielding a great variety of fine fruits, as oranges,
lemons, figs, pomegranates, pumpkins, melons, and many others; with a
variety of odoriferous plants, as rosemary, thyme, and the like. One of
these gardens or orchards was planted with the bombast cotton tree,
which grows in pods, in each of which there are seven or eight seeds.
The 29th of May, Candish went to an island near Puna, into which the
caçique had conveyed all the valuable furniture of his palace, with
other things of value. These stores were all discovered, and plundered
of every thing thought worth carrying on board the ships, and the rest
destroyed. The church also of Puna, which stood near the palace, was
burnt down, and its five bells carried to the ships. On the 2d June, the
English were attacked by 100 Spaniards, who killed or took prisoners
twelve of their men, losing forty-six of their own in the encounter.
Candish landed again that same day with seventy English, and had another
battle with the Spaniards, who were joined by 200 Indians armed with
bows and arrows. The English were victorious, after which they made
great havock of the fields and orchards, burnt four ships on the stocks,
and left the town of 300 houses a heap of rubbish. Besides this
principal town, there were two others on the island of 200 houses each,
so that Puna was the best settled island on all this coast.
Setting sail from Puna on the 5th June, they sailed to Rio Dolce, where
they watered. They passed the equinoctial on the 12th, continuing their
course northwards all the rest of that month. The 1st July, they had
sight of New Spain, being four leagues from the land in 10° N. The 9th
they took a new ship of 120 tons, in which was one Michael Sancius, a
native of Provence, a very skilful coasting pilot for these seas, whom
Candish retained as his pilot, and from whom he got the first hint of
the great ship Anna Maria, which he afterwards took on her voyage from
the Philippine islands. Taking all the men, and every thing of any value
from the ship of Sancius, they set her on fire. The 26th they came to
anchor in the mouth of the river Capalico, and the same night went in
the pinnace with thirty men to Guatalco, two leagues from that river, in
15° 70' N. and burnt both the town and custom-house, which was a large
handsome building, in which there were laid up 600 bags of indigo, and
400 bags of cacao, every bag of the former being worth forty crowns, and
each of the latter worth ten. These cacaos serve among the people of
these parts both as food and money, being somewhat like almonds, yet not
quite so pleasant, and pass in trade by way of small change, 150 of them
being equal in value to a rial of plate.
They set sail from Capalico on the 28th, the sea running so high that
they could not fill their water casks, and came to Guatalco that same
night. Next day Candish went ashore with thirty men, marching two miles
into the woods, where he took a _mestizo_ belonging to the custom-house
of that town, having with him a considerable quantity of goods, both
which and their master were carried to the ships. The 24th August,
Candish went with thirty men in the pinnace to the haven of _Puerto de
Navidad_ in lat. 19° 24' N. where Sancius had informed him there would
be a prize; but, before their arrival, she had gone twelve leagues
farther to fish for pearls. They here made prisoner of a mulatto, who
had been sent to give notice of the English, all along the coast of New
Gallicia, and got possession of all his letters. They likewise burnt the
town, and two ships of 200 tons here building, after which they returned
to the ships.
They came on the 26th into the bay of St Jago, where they watered at a
good river, which yielded them plenty of fish, and where they found some
pearls. This bay is in lat. 19° 18' N. Leaving this bay on the 2d
September, they came next day into the bay of Malacca, a league westward
from port Navidad, and a good place for ships to ride in. That day,
Candish went ashore with about thirty men, to an Indian town named
Acatlan, about two leagues from the road.[52] This town or village
consisted of twenty or thirty houses and a church, which they
demolished, and then returned at night to the ships. Leaving this bay on
the 4th, they came on the 8th to the road of Chacalla, eighteen leagues
from Cape Corientes. On the 9th, Candish sent a party of forty men,
guided by Sancius, which, after marching through woods and deserts,
lighted upon a few families, some of which were Indians, and others
Spanish and Portuguese, all of whom were brought to the ships. The women
were ordered to fetch plantains, lemons, oranges, and other fruits, in
reward for which all their husbands were set free, except a Spaniard
named Sembrano, and Diego, a Portuguese.
[Footnote 52: Guatlan is the name of a bay on this coast, and which is
probably corrupted in the text to Acatlan.--E.]
On the 12th they arrived at the island of St Andrew, which is very full
of wood, and where they found plenty of fowls and seals, together with a
sort of serpents, or lizards rather, called _Iguanos_, having four feet
and a long sharp tail, which they found good eating. Leaving this isle,
they came to the road of Mazatlan on the 24th, lying under the tropic of
Cancer. The river here is large within, but much obstructed by a bar at
its mouth. The bay abounds with fish, and there are abundance of good
fruits up the country. Departing from this bay on the 27th, they came to
an island, a league north from Mazatlan,[53] where they heeled their
ships, and rebuilt their pinnace. On this isle, they found fresh water,
by digging two or three feet into the sand, otherwise they must have
gone back twenty or thirty leagues for water, being advised by one
Flores, a Spanish prisoner, to dig in the sands, where no water or sign
of any could be perceived. Having amply supplied the ships with water,
they remained at this island till the 9th October, and then sailed from
Cape San Lucar, the S.W. point of California, in lat. 22° 50' N. which
they fell in with on the 14th, observing that it much resembled the
Needles at the Isle of Wight, which had been before noticed by Sir
Francis Drake. Within this cape, there is a large bay, called by the
Spaniards _Aguada Segura_,[54] into which falls a fine fresh-water
river, the banks of which are usually inhabited by many Indians in the
summer. They went into this bay, where they again watered, and remained
waiting for the Accapulco ship till the 4th November, the wind
continuing all that time to hang westerly.
[Footnote 53: In our best modern maps no such island is to be found; but
about the same distance to the S. is a cluster of small isles.--E.]
[Footnote 54: Probably that now called the bay of St Barnaby, about
twenty miles E.N.E. from Cape San Lucar.--E.]
The 4th November, putting to sea, the Desire and Content beat to and fro
to windward off the head land of California; and that very morning one
of the men in the admiral, going aloft to the topmast, espied a ship
bearing in from seaward for the cape. Putting every thing in readiness
for action, Candish gave chase, and coming up with her in the afternoon,
gave her a broadside and a volley of small arms. This ship was the Santa
Anna of 700 tons burden, belonging to the king of Spain, and commanded
by the admiral of the South Sea. Candish instantly boarded, finding the
Spaniards in a good posture of defence, and was repulsed with the loss
of two men slain and four or five wounded. He then renewed the action
with his cannon and musquetry, raking the St Ann, and killing or
wounding great numbers, as she was full of men. The Spaniards long
defended themselves manfully; but the ship being sore wounded, so that
the water poured in a-main, they at last hung out a flag of truce,
praying for quarter, and offering to surrender. This was immediately
agreed to by Candish, who ordered them to lower their sails, and to send
their chief officers to his ship. They accordingly hoisted out their
boat, in which came the captain, the pilot, and one of the chief
merchants, who surrendered themselves, and gave an account of the value
of their ship, in which were 122,000 pezos in gold, with prodigious
quantities of rich silks, satins, damasks, and divers kinds of
merchandise, such as musk, and all manner of provisions, almost as
acceptable to the English as riches, having been long at sea.
The prize thus gloriously obtained, Candish returned to _Aguada_, or
_Puerto Seguro_, on the 6th November, where he landed all the Spaniards,
to the number of 150 persons, men and women, giving them plenty of wine
and victuals, with the sails of their ship and some planks, to build
huts or tents for them to dwell in. The owners of the prize being thus
disposed of, the next thing was to share the booty; which ungracious
work of distribution soon involved Candish in all the troubles of a
mutiny, every one being eager for gold, yet no one satisfied with his
share. This disturbance was most violent in the Content; but all was
soon appeased and compromised by the candid and generous behaviour of
Candish. The 17th of November, being the coronation day of queen
Elizabeth, was celebrated by discharges of ordnance, and vollies of
small shot, and at night by fireworks. Of the prisoners taken in the
Spanish ship, Candish reserved two Japanese boys, three natives of the
island of Luzon or Manilla, a Portuguese who had been in China and
Japan, and a Spanish pilot, who was thoroughly versant in the navigation
between New Spain and the Philippine islands. Accapulco is the haven
whence they fit out for the Philippines, and the Ladrones are their
stated places of refreshment on this voyage.
Having dismissed the Spanish captain with a noble present, and
sufficient provision for his defence against the Indians, and removed
everything from the prize which his ships could contain, Candish set the
Santa Anna on fire on the 19th November, having still 500 tons of her
goods remaining, and saw her burnt to the water's edge.
SECTION III.
_Voyage Home to England_.
This great business, for which they had so long waited, being now
accomplished, they set sail cheerfully on their return for England. The
Content staid some short time behind the Desire, which went on before,
expecting she would soon follow, but she never rejoined company.
Pursuing the voyage, therefore, in the Desire, Candish directed his
course for the Ladrones across the Pacific Ocean, these islands being
nearly 1800 leagues distant from this harbour of _Aguada Segura_ in
California. This passage took forty-five days, from the 19th November,
1587, to the 3d January, 1588. On this day, early in the morning, they
had sight of Guam, one of the Ladrones, in lat. 13° 40' N. and long.
143° 30' E. Sailing with a gentle gale before the wind, they came within
two leagues of the island, where they saw sixty or seventy canoes full
of savages, who brought cocoas, plantains, potatoes, and fresh fish, to
exchange for some of their commodities. They gave them in return some
pieces of old iron, which they hung upon small cords and fishing lines,
and so lowered down to the canoes, getting back, in the same manner,
what the savages offered in exchange. In the course of this traffic the
savages crowded so much about the ship, that two of their canoes were
broken; yet none of the savages were drowned, as they were almost as
familiar with the water as if they had been fishes. The savages
continued following the ship, and would not quit her company till
several shots were fired at them; though 'tis ten to one if any of them
were killed, as they are so very nimble, throwing themselves immediately
into the water, and diving beyond the reach of danger on the slightest
warning.
These islanders were large handsome men, extraordinarily fat, and of a
tawny colour, mostly having very long hair, some wearing it tied up in
large knots on the crown of their heads, like certain wooden images at
the heads of their canoes. Their canoes were very artificially made,
considering that they use no edge-tools in their construction; and are
about seven or eight yards in length, by half a yard only in breadth,
their heads and stems being both alike, and having rafts made of canes
or reeds on their starboard sides, being also supplied both with masts
and sails. These latter are made of sedges, and are either square or
triangular. These canoes have this property, that they will sail almost
as well against the wind as before it.
On the 19th January, at day-break, Candish fell in with a head-land of
the Philippine islands, called _Cabo del Espiritu Santo_. The island
itself [Samar] is of considerable size, consisting of high land in the
middle, and depressed in its east and west extremities; the latter of
which runs a great way out to sea. It is in lat. 30° N. being distant
110 leagues from Guam and about 60 leagues from Manilla, the chief of
the Philippines.[55] Samar is a woody island, and its inhabitants are
mostly heathens. Candish spent eleven days in sailing from Guam to this
place, having had some foul weather, and scarcely carrying any sail for
two or three nights. Manilla, at this time, was an unwalled town of no
great strength, yet containing vast riches in gold and valuable
commodities, and inhabited by six or seven hundred Spaniards. It has a
constant annual correspondence with Accapulco in New Spain; besides
which twenty or thirty vessels come thither yearly from China, for
conducting its trade with the _Sangueloes_: These are Chinese merchants,
very sharp and sensible men in every thing relating to trade, extremely
ingenious in all kinds of mechanical contrivances, and the most expert
embroiderers on silk and satin of any in the world. They will execute
any form of beast, fowl, or fish, in gold, silver, or silk, having all
the just proportions and colours in every part, and giving all the life
and beauty to their work, as if done by the best painter, or even as
nature has bestowed on the originals. The trade of these men with
Manilla must be very profitable, as they bring great quantities of gold
there, and exchange it against silver, weight for weight.[56]
[Footnote 55: The latitude of Cape Espiritu Santo, as given in the test,
is grossly erroneous, being only 12° 35' N. and its long. 125° 30' E.
from Greenwich. The difference of longitude from Guam, Guaham, or
Guaci, the most southerly of the Ladrones, is 17° 45' nearly east, and
consequently 355 marine leagues. This island is divided from Luzon, or
Luçonia, the principal island of the Philippines, by the narrow straits
of San Bernardino; and Cape Espiritu Santo is about 100 leagues, in a
straight line, from the city of Manilla, which lies to the N.W. Cape
Espiritu Santo is at the N.W. extremity of the island of Samar.--E.]
[Footnote 56: This surely is an egregious error, as such acute merchants
as the Chinese are here represented, and actually are, could never be so
foolish as to give gold for silver, weight for weight. Before the
present scarcity of bullion, the ordinary European price of exchange,
was fourteen for one; and perhaps the then price in China might be
lower, as twelve, eleven, or ten; but equality is quite
inconceivable.--E.]
The same day on which he fell in with Cape Espiritu Santo, 14th of
January, 1588, Candish entered in the evening into the straits of San
Bernardino, between Samar or Cambaia, and the island of Luzon. The 15th
he fell in with the island of _Capul_, passing a very narrow strait
between that island and another, in which the current of the tide was
considerable. In this passage, a ledge of rocks lay off the point of
Capul, but was passed without danger. Within the point was a fair bay,
with a good harbour, having anchorage in four fathoms, within a cable's
length of the shore. Coming to anchor here about ten in the morning, the
Desire was immediately boarded by a canoe, in which was one of the seven
chiefs of the island. Passing themselves for Spaniards, the English
traded with these people for cocoa-nuts and potatoes, giving a yard of
linen for four cocoa-nuts, and as much for about a quart of potatoes,
which they found sweet and excellent food, either boiled or roasted.
The caçique or chief who came on board had his skin curiously streaked
or painted [tatooed], full of strange devices all over his body. Candish
kept him on board, desiring him to send his servants, who paddled his
canoe, to bring the other six chiefs to the ship. They came accordingly,
attended by a great train of the natives, bringing vast quantities of
hogs and hens, and a full market of cocoa-nuts and potatoes; so that the
English were occupied the whole day in purchasing, giving eight rials of
plate for a hog, and one for a hen. At this place, a justly-merited
punishment was inflicted on a Spanish pilot, taken in the Santa Anna,
who had plotted to betray them to the Spaniards, and for which he was
hanged. Candish remained here for nine days, all the time receiving
ample supplies of fresh victuals, good water, and wood for fuel. The
islanders are all pagans, who are said to worship the devil, and to
converse with him. They are of a tawny complexion, and go almost naked;
the men wearing a small square piece of cloth in front, woven from
plantain-leaves, and another behind, which is brought up between their
legs, both being fastened to a girdle round their waists. They are all
circumcised, and have also a strange custom, hardly practised any where
else but in Pegu, having a nail of tin in a perforation through the
glans, which nail is split at one end and rivetted; but which can be
taken out as they have occasion, and put in again. This is said to have
been contrived, on the humble petition of the women, to prevent
perpetrating an unnatural crime, to which they were much addicted.
On the 23d of January, Candish summoned all the caçiques of this island,
and an hundred more, who had paid him tribute, and then revealed to them
all, when assembled, that he and his men were Englishmen, and the
greatest enemies the Spaniards had in the world. At the same time he
generously restored them, in money, the value of all the tribute they
had paid to him, in hogs, cocoa-nuts, potatoes, and the like. This
unexpected generosity astonished the whole assembly, who applauded his
bounty, and offered to join him with all the forces of their respective
districts, if he would go to war with the Spaniards. They seemed much
pleased with finding that Candish and his people were English, and
thankful for the kindness with which they had been treated. On taking
leave, they rowed round the ship awhile in their canoes, as if in
compliment to the English; and Candish caused a gun to be fired at their
departure.
Setting sail on the 24th, Candish ran along the coast of Luzon, steering
N.W. between that island and _Masbate_. In the islands thereabout, the
Spaniards were observed to keep a strict watch, making great fires, and
discharging their pieces all night, having been much alarmed by the
arrival of the English. The island of _Panama_ is in many places plain
and level, affording many large, tall, and straight trees, fit for
masts, and has several mines of very fine gold, which are possessed by
the natives. To the south of this is the island of the Negroes, which is
very large, almost as big as England, and is in lat. 9° N.[57] It
appeared to consist mostly of low land, and to be very fertile.
[Footnote 57: Negro island reaches from lat. 9° 15' to 11° 45' N. and is
consequently two and a half degrees from N. to S. about 174 English
miles, but does not any where exceed thirty miles from E. to W.--E.]
At six in the morning of the 29th of January, they began to pass through
the straits between Panama and Negro islands, and, after proceeding
sixteen leagues, they found a fair opening in these straits, trending
S.W. by S. About this time, being rejoined by their boat, which had been
sent before them in the morning, Candish sent a Spanish prisoner on
shore, with a message to his captain, who commanded a ship which lay at
Panama the night before, desiring him to provide an abundant supply of
gold against the return of the Desire, as he meant to pay him a visit at
Manilla, and as that was a long voyage, it merited good entertainment.
He said farther, that he would have come now, to weigh some of his
Spanish gold in English scales, if he had possessed a larger boat for
landing his men on the island.
Proceeding on the voyage, they saw Batochina on the 8th of February, an
island near Gilolo, in the lat. of 1° N. The 14th of that month they
fell in with eleven or twelve small flat low islands, almost level with
the sea, in lat. 3° 10' S. near the Moluccas. March 1st, having passed
the straits between Java Major and Java Minor, they anchored under the
S.W. part of Java Major, where they saw some people fishing in a bay
under the island. The admiral sent a boat to them, in which was a negro
who could speak the _Moresco_[58] language, which is much used in Java.
But, being frightened at the approach of the boat, they all got on shore
and ran away into the woods. One of them, however, came back to the
shore, on being called to by the negro, and directed where to find fresh
water; besides which, he undertook to carry a message to the king of
that part of the island from the admiral, certifying that he had come to
purchase victuals, or any commodities the country afforded. In
consequence of this message, nine or ten canoes belonging to the king
came off, on the 12th March, loaded with all sorts of provisions as deep
as they could swim; bringing oxen, hogs, hens, geese, eggs, sugar,
cocoa-nuts, plantains, oranges, lemons, wine, and arrack.
[Footnote 58: Probably the Malay is here meant, and called Moresco or
Moors, an ordinary term for Mahometans.--E.]
At the same time two Portuguese came off to visit Candish, and to
enquire about their king, Don Antonio, then residing in England. These
persons gave him a full account of the manners and customs of the people
of this island. The king of this part was held in prodigious awe by his
subjects, over whom he exercised absolute power, insomuch that no man
was permitted to make a bargain without his leave, on pain of death. He
had an hundred wives, and his son fifty; who may possibly be happy
enough while he lives; but when he dies, and his body is burnt, and the
ashes collected into an urn, the tragedy of his wives begins five days
afterwards. They are then all conducted to an appointed place, where the
favourite wife throws a ball from her hand, and where it stops marks the
place of their deaths. Being come there, and turning their faces to the
east, they all draw their daggers and stab themselves to the heart;
after which they smear themselves with their own blood, and thus die.
The men of this island are excellent soldiers, being hardy, valiant, and
desperate to the last degree, sticking at nothing commanded by their
king, however dangerous; and, should he even command them to plunge a
dagger into their own breast, or to leap from a precipice, or into a den
of wild beasts, they instantly obey: For the displeasure of their
sovereign is as certain death as the point of a sword, or the fangs of a
beast of prey. Their complexion is tawny, like the other natives of
India, and they go entirely naked; but their women are of a fairer hue,
and are more modestly cloathed than the men.
After this relation of the Portuguese, having satisfied the Javans for
the provisions they had supplied, and received a promise of good
entertainment to the English when they might return to their island,
Candish took leave of them, making a present to their king of three
large cannon. Next day, being the 16th of March, he made sail for the
Cape of Good Hope, spending all the rest of that month, all April, and a
part of May, in traversing the vast ocean between the island of Java and
the southern extremity of Africa, making many observations on the
appearances of the stars, the weather, winds, tides, currents,
soundings, and bearings and positions of lands.
On the 11th of May, land was espied bearing N. and N. by W. and towards
noon more land was seen bearing W. which was believed to be the Cape of
Good Hope, being then about forty or fifty leagues from that southern
promontory of Africa.[59] The wind being scanty, they stood off to the
southwards till midnight; and, the wind being then fair, stood their
course directly west. On the 12th and 13th they were becalmed, with a
thick and hazy atmosphere. The weather cleared upon the 14th, when they
again saw land, which proved to be Cape _Falso_, forty or fifty leagues
short, or to the eastwards of the Cape of Good Hope.[60] This Cape
Falso is easily known, having three hills directly over it, the highest
in the middle, and only a little distance from each other; the ground
being much lower by the sea-side. Besides which, the Cape of Good Hope
bears W. by S. from this cape. They discovered the Cape of Good Hope on
the 16th of May, observing the head-land to be considerably high, having
two hummocks at the westerly point, a little off the main, and three
others a little farther into the sea, yet low-land still between these
and the sea. By the Portuguese the Cape of Good Hope is said to be 2000
leagues from Java; but by their reckoning they made it only 1850
leagues, which took them just nine weeks in the run.
[Footnote 59: Either this is a gross error, or it means that their
reckoning still made that distance from the Cape, as nothing nearly
approaching to such a distance can possibly be seen.--E.]
[Footnote 60: Captain Falso is only ten leagues E. from the Cape of Good
Hope; but perhaps Cape Aguillas may be meant in the text, which is about
thirty-five leagues E.S.E. from the Cape.--E.]
By break of day on the 8th June, they were within seven or eight leagues
of St Helena, of which island they had merely a glimpse that day, as,
having little or no wind, they had to stand off and on all night. Next
day, having a tolerably good wind, they stood in with the shore, sending
the boat before, and came to anchor in a good bay, under the N.W. side
of the island, in twelve fathoms, only two or three cables length from
the shore. This island lies in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, almost
at equal distances from the main land of Africa and that of Brazil, in
Lat. 15° 43' S. between five and six hundred leagues from the Cape of
Good Hope.
Candish went here on shore, and entered the church, to which there was a
fair causeway; having a _frame between two bowls_, and a cross of
freestone adjoining. Within it was hung with painted cloth, on which
were represented the Blessed Virgin, the story of the Crucifixion, and
other holy legends, hung round the altar. The valley in which this
church stands is extremely pleasant, and so full of fruit-trees and
excellent plants, that it seemed like a very fair and well-cultivated
garden, having long rows of lemon, orange, citron, pomegranate, date,
and fig-trees, delighting the eye with blossoms, green fruit, and ripe,
all at once. These trees seemed nicely trimmed, and there were many
delightful walks under the shelter of their boughs, which were
pleasant, cool, and shady. At some distance there rises a fine clear
spring, which diffuses itself in many fine rivulets, all through this
valley, watering all its parts, and refreshing every plant and tree. In
the whole of this great garden there is hardly any unoccupied space; as,
where nature may have left any part empty, there art has supplied the
deficiency, so as to fill the whole space to advantage. This island also
affords great abundance of partridges and pheasants, both being larger
than ours in England. There are also turkeys, both black and white, with
red heads, about as large as those in England, and their eggs much the
same, only altogether white. There is also plenty of _cabritos_, or wild
goats, as big as asses, and having manes like horses, and their beards
reaching down to the ground. These are so numerous, that their herds or
flocks are sometimes a whole mile in length. It contains also vast herds
of wild-swine, which keep chiefly in the mountains, as do likewise the
wild-goats. These swine are very fat, but so excessively wild that they
are never to be got at by a man, unless when asleep, or rolling
themselves in the mire.
Having taken in all necessaries that this place produced, Candish set
sail for England on the 20th of June, standing N.W. by W. It is
observable, that the wind at St Helena is generally off the shore. On
Friday, the 23d of August, he steered E. and E. by S. for the
northernmost of the Azores; and on the 29th, after midnight, he got
sight of the islands of Flores and Corvo, in lat. 39° 30' N. whence he
shaped his course N.E. He met a Flemish vessel on the 3d September,
bound from Lisbon, from which he had the joyful news of the total defeat
of the Spanish Armada. On the 9th September, after receiving a farewell
from the wind in a violent storm, which carried away most of his sails,
Candish arrived at the long-desired haven of Plymouth.
There had not hitherto been any voyage of so much consequence, or
attended by such uninterrupted success as this: As plainly appears from
the length of time occupied by that of Magellan, which extended to three
years and a month; that of Sir Francis Drake extending to upwards of two
years and ten months; while this voyage by Candish was less than two
years and two months. We need not wonder, therefore, that a young
gentleman like Mr Candish, who was entirely devoted to a desire of
acquiring glory and renown, should contrive some extraordinary manner of
displaying his good fortune. Some accounts accordingly inform us, that
he brought his ship into Plymouth harbour under a suit of silken sails,
which, if true, may be thus explained. We have already mentioned, from
his own narrative, that he encountered a violent storm, just before his
arrival, which tore all his sails to pieces. In this distress, he would
probably use those he had taken in the South Sea, made of what is called
silk-grass, having a strong gloss and beautiful colour, which might
easily deceive the eyes of the vulgar, and pass upon them for sails made
of silk. This much is certain, however, that though he might be vain and
expensive in such matters, yet all came fairly out of his own pocket;
and those who had sailed with him, from the prospect of raising their
fortunes, had not the least reason to complain, as he made a fair and
full distribution of the prizes, by which he gained universal credit and
esteem.
To shew his duty and diligence, as well as to discharge respectfully the
obligations he owed his patron, Lord Hunsdon, the near relation of Queen
Elizabeth, and then lord-chamberlain, he wrote the following letter to
him on the very day of his arrival at Plymouth.
_To the Right Honourable the Lord Hunsdon, &c._
_Right Honourable_,
As your favour heretofore hath been most greatly extended towards me, so
I humbly desire a continuance thereof; and though there be no means in
me to deserve the same, yet the uttermost of my services shall not be
wanting, whensoever it shall please your honour to dispose thereof. I am
humbly to desire your honour to make known unto her majesty the desire I
have had to do her majesty service in the performance of this voyage;
and, as it hath pleased God to give her the victory over part of her
enemies, so I trust, ere long, to see her overthrow them all. For the
places of their wealth, whereby they have maintained and made their
wars, are now perfectly discovered; and, if it please her majesty, with
a small power she may take and spoil them all.
It hath pleased the Almighty to suffer me to circumcompass all the whole
globe of the world, entering in at the Straits of Magellan, and
returning by the Cape of Buena Esperança. In which voyage I have either
discovered, or brought certain intelligence of, all the rich places of
the world that ever were known or discovered by any Christian. I
navigated along the coasts of Chili, Peru, and Nueva Espanna, where I
made great spoils. I burnt and sunk nineteen sail of ships, great and
small. All the villages and towns that ever I landed at, I burnt and
spoiled; and, had I not been discovered upon the coast, I had taken a
great quantity of treasure. The matter of most profit unto me was a
great ship of the king's, which I took at California, which ship came
from the Philippines, being one of the richest for merchandize that ever
passed these seas, as the royal register, accounts, and merchants did
shew; for it amounted in value to ***** in Mexico to be sold: which
goods, for that my ships were not able to contain the least part of
them, I was enforced to set on fire.
From the Cape of California, being the uppermost part of all New Spain,
I navigated to the Philippine islands, hard upon the coast of China, of
which country I have brought such intelligence as hath not been heard in
these parts; the stateliness and riches of which country I fear to make
report of; lest I should not be credited: for, if I had not known
sufficiently the incomparable wealth of that country, I should have been
as incredulous thereof as others will be that have not had the like
experience.
I sailed along the islands of the Moluccas, where among some of the
heathen people I was well intreated, and where our people may have trade
as freely as the Portuguese, if they will themselves. From thence, I
passed by the Cape of Buena Esperança; and found out, by the way
homeward, the island of St Helena, where the Portuguese used to refresh
themselves; and, from that island, God hath suffered me to return into
England. All which services, together with myself, I humbly prostrate at
her majesty's feet, desiring the Almighty long to continue her reign
among us; for at this day she is the most famous and most victorious
prince that liveth in the world.
Thus, humbly desiring pardon for my tediousness, I leave your lordship
to the tuition of the Almighty.
_Your honour's most humble to command,
Thomas Candish_.
Plymouth, this 9th
of September, 1588.
* * * * *
There are many circumstances in this voyage, besides the wonderful
facility with which it was accomplished, that deserve to be considered.
As, for instance, the adventuring to pass a second time into the South
Sea, after it was not only known that the Spaniards were excessively
alarmed by the passage of Sir Francis Drake, but also that they had
received succours from Spain, and had actually fortified themselves
strongly in the South Sea. Also the nice search made by Candish, and the
exact description he has given us of the Straits of Magellan, are very
noble proofs of his skill and industry, and of his desire that posterity
might reap the fruits of his labours. The attack of the Accapulco ship,
likewise, considering the small force he had along with him, was a noble
instance of true English bravery, which was justly rewarded by the queen
with the honour of knighthood.
His account of the Philippines, and his description of several islands
in the East Indies, are very clear and curious, and must at that time
have been very useful; but particularly his map and description of
China, which gave great lights in those days. We may add to all this,
the great care he took in the instruction of his seamen, many of whom
afterwards distinguished themselves by navigating vessels in the same
stupendous course, and thereby filling all the known world with the fame
and reputation of English seamen. It is not therefore surprising that we
find the best judges, both of our own and other nations, bestowing very
high praise on this worthy gentleman, who, in the whole conduct of his
voyage, shewed the courage and discretion of a great commander, with all
the skill and diligence of an able seaman; of both which eminent
characters he has left the strongest testimonies in his accurate account
of this circumnavigation.
The wealth brought home by Sir Thomas Candish from this successful
voyage must have been considerable; an old writer says it was sufficient
to have purchased _a fair earldom_, a general and vague expression,
having no determinate meaning. Whatever may have been the amount of the
sum, which he acquired with so much hazard and so great honour, he
certainly did not make such prudent use of his good fortune as might
have been expected; for in the space of three years the best part of it
was spent, and he determined to lay out the remainder upon a second
expedition. We need the less wonder at this, if we consider what the
writers of those days tell us, of his great generosity, and the
prodigious expence he was at in procuring and maintaining such persons
as he thought might be useful to him in his future naval expeditions, on
which subject his mind was continually bent. Such things require the
revenues of a prince; and as he looked upon this voyage round the world
as an introduction only to his future undertakings, we may easily
conceive that, what the world considered extravagance, might appear to
him mere necessary disbursements, which, instead of lessening, he
proposed should have laid the foundations of a more extensive fortune.
All circumstances duly considered, this was neither a rash nor
improbable supposition; since there were many examples in the glorious
reign of Queen Elizabeth, of very large fortunes acquired by the same
method in which he proposed to have increased his estate. Besides, it
clearly appears, by his will, that he not only did not die in debt, but
left very considerable effects behind him, notwithstanding his heavy
expences, and the many misfortunes of his second expedition, of which it
is proper to subjoin a brief account.--_Harris_.
In the Collection of Hakluyt, vol. IV. p. 341-355, is a long enumeration
of nautical remarks, of the latitudes, soundings, distances of places,
bearings of lands, variations of the compass, time spent in sailing
between the several places enumerated, time of remaining at any of
these, observations of winds, &c. &c. &c. written by Mr Thomas Fuller of
Ipswich, who was master of the Desire in this voyage round the world;
but which are too tedious and uninteresting for insertion.--E.
SECTION IV.
_Second Voyage of Sir Thomas Candish, intended for the South Sea, in
1591_.[61]
Though not a circumnavigation, owing to various misfortunes, it appears
proper to insert this narrative, giving an account of the unfortunate
end of the renowned Candish, by way of appendix to his circumnavigation.
From the happy success of his former voyage, and the superior strength
with which he undertook the second, in which, after ranging the Spanish
coast of the South Sea, he proposed to have visited the Philippine
islands and China, he certainly had every reason to have expected, that
the profits of this new enterprise would have fully compensated for its
expences, and have enabled him to spend the remainder of his days in
honourable ease and affluence.
[Footnote 61: Hakluyt, IV. 361.--This narrative, as we learn from
Hakluyt, was written by Mr John Lane, or Jane, a person of good
observation, who was employed in this and many other voyages.--E.]
* * * * *
The ships fitted out on this occasion, entirely at his own expence, were
the galleon named the Leicester, in which Sir Thomas Candish embarked
himself as admiral, or general of the expedition; the Roebuck
vice-admiral, commanded by Mr Cocke; the Desire rear-admiral, of which
Mr John Davis was captain;[62] the Dainty, a bark belonging to Mr Adrian
Gilbert, of which Mr Randolph Cotton had the command; and a pinnace
named the Black.
[Footnote 62: The author of this narrative informs us that he sailed on
this voyage along with Mr Davis.--E.]
§ 1. _Incidents in the Voyage, till the Separation of the Ships_.
With this squadron we sailed from Plymouth on the 26th of August, 1591.
The 29th November, we fell in with the bay of St Salvador on the coast
of Brazil, twelve leagues to the N. of Cabo Frio, where we were becalmed
till the 2d December, when we captured a small bark, bound for the Rio
Plata, laden with sugar, haberdashery wares, and negroes. The master of
this bark brought us to an isle, called Placencia or _Ilha Grande_,
thirty Portuguese leagues W. from Cabo Frio, where we arrived on the 5th
December, and rifled six or seven houses inhabited by Portuguese. The
11th we departed from this place, and arrived on the 14th at the island
of St Sebastian; whence Mr Cocke and Mr Davis immediately departed, with
the Desire and the Black pinnace, on purpose to attack the town of
Santos.
We anchored at the bar of Santos in the evening of the 15th, and went
immediately in our boats to the town. Next morning about nine o'clock,
we reached Santos, and being discovered, we immediately landed, being
only twenty-four of us, our long-boat being still far astern. By this
promptitude, we took all the people of the town prisoners in the church,
being at mass, and detained them there all day. The great object of Sir
Thomas Candish in assaulting this town was to supply our wants,
expecting to have got every thing of which we stood in need, when once
in possession: But such was the negligence of Mr Cocke, who commanded on
this occasion, that the Indians were allowed to carry every thing out
of the town in open view, and no one hindered them; and next day, our
prisoners were all set free, only four poor old men being kept as
pledges to supply our wants. By this mismanagement, the town of Santos,
which could easily have supplied a fleet the double of ours with all
kinds of necessaries, was in three days left to us entirely naked,
without people, and without provisions. Sir Thomas Candish came up eight
or ten days afterwards, and remained till the 22d January, 1592,
endeavouring by treaty to procure what we were once possessed of, but to
little purpose; and we were then forced to depart, through want of
provisions, glad to procure a few baskets of cassavi meal, going away
worse provided than we had come there. We accordingly left Santos on the
22d January, and burnt the town of St Vincent to the ground.
We set sail on the 24th, shaping our course for the Straits of Magellan.
On the 7th February we had a violent storm, and on the 8th, our fleet
was separated by the fury of the tempest. Consulting with the master of
our ship, our captain concluded to go for Port Desire, in the latitude
of 48° S. hoping that Sir Thomas would go there likewise, as he had
found great relief there in his former voyage. Our captain had not been
able to get directions, what course to take in such a contingency as had
now occurred, though he had earnestly proposed such a measure. In our
way, we fortunately fell in with the Roebuck, which had been in extreme
danger, and had lost her boat. We arrived together at Port Desire on the
6th March. The Black pinnace came in there also on the 16th; but the
Dainty came not, having gone back for England, leaving their captain, Mr
Randolph Cotton, aboard the Roebuck, with nothing but the clothes he
wore. He now came aboard our ship, being in great habits of friendship
with Captain Davis.
On the 18th Sir Thomas brought the galleon into the roads, and came
himself into the harbour in a boat he had got built at sea, for his
long-boat and light-horseman were both lost during the storm, together
with a pinnace he had set up at Santos. Being on board our ship, the
Desire, Sir Thomas informed our captain of all his extremities, and
complained severely of his company, and particularly of several
gentlemen in his ship, proposing to go no more on board his own ship,
but to proceed for the rest of the voyage in the Desire. We were all
grieved to hear such hard speeches of our good friends; but having
spoken with the gentlemen in the Leicester, we found them faithful,
honest, and resolute in their proceedings, although it pleased our
general to conceive of them otherwise.
The 20th March we departed from Port Desire, Sir Thomas being in the
Desire with us. The 8th of April we fell in with the Straits of
Magellan, having sustained many furious storms between Port Desire and
the straits. The 14th we passed the first straits, and got through the
second, ten leagues beyond the first, on the 16th. We doubled Cape
Froward on the 18th, which cape is in 53° 30' S. The 21st we were forced
by a furious storm to take shelter in a small cove with our ships, four
leagues beyond the cape, and on the southern shore of the straits, where
we remained till the 15th of May; in which time we endured much
distress, by excessive storms, with perpetual snow, and many of our men
died of cold and famine, not having wherewithal to cover their bodies
nor to fill their bellies, but living on muscles, sea-weeds, and water,
with an occasional supply of meal from the ships stores.[63] All the
sick men in the galleon were most uncharitably put on shore into the
woods, exposed to the snow, the air, and the cold, which men in health
could hardly have endured, where they ended their days in the utmost
misery, Sir Thomas remaining all this time in the Desire.
[Footnote 63: It would appear that this expedition had been very
improvidently undertaken, with a very inadequate supply of provisions,
and, as will afterwards appear, of naval stores, trusting perhaps to
obtain supplies from the enemy, as had been attempted in vain at Santos.
Either delayed by these views, or from ignorance, the passage through
the straits was attempted at a very improper season, three months after
the antarctic mid-summer and during the autumnal equinoctial gales.
November, December, and January are the summer months, and best fitted
for these high southern latitudes.--E.]
Seeing these great extremities of cold and snow, and doubting a
disastrous end to the enterprize, Sir Thomas asked our captain's
opinion, being a person of great experience in the utmost parts of the
north, to which he had made three voyages of discovery in the employ of
the London merchants. Captain Davis said, that he did not expect the
snow to be of long continuance, for which he gave sufficient reasons
from his former experience, and hoped therefore that this might not
greatly prejudice or hinder the completion of the enterprize. Yet Sir
Thomas called all the company together, telling them that he proposed to
depart from the straits upon some other voyage, either proceeding for
the Cape of Good Hope, or back again to Brazil. The company answered,
that they desired rather to wait God's favour for a wind, if he so
pleased, and to submit to any hardships, rather than abandon the
intended voyage, considering that they had been here only for a short
time, and were now only forty leagues from the South Sea; yet, though
grieved to return, they were ready to perform whatever he pleased to
command. So he concluded to leave the straits, and make sail for the
Cape of Good Hope.
When Sir Thomas Candish returned on board the Desire, from talking with
the company, Captain Davis requested he would consider the extremity of
our estate and condition, the slenderness of his provision, and the
weakness of his men, being in no case for undertaking that new
enterprise; as, if the other ships were as ill appointed as the Desire,
it would be impossible to perform his new design, having no more sails
then were then bent, no victuals, no ground tackle, no cordage save what
was already in use; and, of seventy-five persons in the Desire, the
master only had knowledge enough for managing the ship, and there were
only fourteen sailors besides, all the rest being gentlemen,
serving-men, or tradesmen. Captain Davis laid these persuasions before
both the general and Mr Cocke; and in fine, in consequence of a
petition, delivered in writing by all the chief persons of the whole
company, the general determined to depart from the Straits of Magellan,
and to return again for Santos in Brazil.
Accordingly, we set sail on the 15th of May, the general being now on
board the galleon, his own ship. The 18th we were free of the straits;
but on passing Cape Froward, we had the misfortune to have our boat sunk
at our stern in the night, by which she was split and sore injured, and
lost all her oars. The 20th of May, being athwart Port Desire, the
general altered his course during the night, as we suppose, by which we
lost him. In the evening he stood close by the wind to leewards, having
the wind at N.N.E. and we stood the same course, the wind not altering
during the night, and next day we could not see him. We were then
persuaded that the general was gone for Port Desire in quest of relief
or that he had sustained some mischance at sea, and was gone there to
seek a remedy. Our captain then called all hands together, the general's
men among the rest, asking their opinion what was to be done, when every
one said he thought the general was gone to Port Desire.
Our master, who was the general's man, and careful for his master's
service, and also a person of good judgment in sea affairs, represented
to the company how dangerous it was for us to go to Port Desire,
especially if we should there miss the general; as we had now no boat
wherewith to land, neither any anchors or cables which he could trust to
in such rapid streams. Yet as we all concluded that it was most probable
the general had gone there, we shaped our course for Port Desire, and on
our way met the Black pinnace by chance, which had also parted company
from the general, being in a miserable plight. So we both proceeded for
Port Desire, where we arrived on the 26th of May.
§ 2. _Disastrous result of the Voyage to Sir Thomas Candish_.[64]
Various accounts of the disappointments and misfortunes of Sir Thomas
Candish, in this disastrous voyage, are still preserved, but the most
copious is contained in his own narrative, addressed to Sir Tristram
Gorges, whom he constituted sole executor of his will. In this, Sir
Thomas attributes his miscarriage to the cowardice and defection of one
of his officers, in the following terms:--"The running away of the
villain Davis was the death of me, and the decay of the whole action,
and his treachery in deserting me the ruin of all."
[Footnote 64: This portion of the voyage is taken from the supplement in
the Collection of Harris, to the circumnavigation of Sir Thomas
Candish.--E.]
In this letter he complained also of mutinies, and that, by adverse
winds at S W. and W.S.W. he had been driven 400 leagues from the shore,
and from the latitude of 50° to that of 40° both S. He says also, that
he was surprised by winter in the straits, and sore vexed by storms,
having such frosts and snows in May as he had never before
witnessed,[65] so that forty of his men died, and seventy more of them
sickened, in the course of seven or eight days. Davis, as he says,
deserted him in the Desire, in lat. 47° S. The Roebuck continued along
with him to lat. 36° S. In consequence of transgressing his directions,
Captain Barker was slain on land with twenty-five men, and the boat
lost; and soon afterwards other twenty-five men met with a similar fate.
Ten others were forsaken at Spiritu Santo, by the cowardice of the
master of the Roebuck, who stole away, having six months provisions on
board for 120 men, and only forty-seven men in his ship. Another mutiny
happened at St Sebastians by the treachery of an Irishman, when Mr
Knivet and other six persons were left on shore.
[Footnote 65: Sir Thomas Candish seems not to have been aware, that the
month of May, in these high antarctic or southern latitudes, was
precisely analogous with November in the high latitudes of the north,
and therefore utterly unfit for navigation.--E.]
Intending again to have attempted passing through the straits, he was
tossed up and down in the tempestuous seas of the Southern Atlantic, and
came even at one time within two leagues of St Helena, but was unable to
reach that island. In his last letter, he declares that, rather than
return to England after so many disasters, he would willingly have gone
ashore in an island placed in lat. 8° in the charts. In this letter, he
states himself to be then scarcely able to hold a pen; and we learn that
he soon afterwards died of grief. The Leicester, in which Candish
sailed, came home, as did the Desire. The Black pinnace was lost; but
the fates of the Roebuck and the Dainty are no where mentioned.
The miscarriage of this voyage was certainly prejudicial to the rising
trade and spirit of naval adventure in England. The ruin of Sir Thomas
Candish threw a damp on such undertakings among the English gentlemen;
and, on the return of these ships, several able and experienced seamen
were turned adrift, to gain their livings as they best might. These
thorough-bred seamen went to other countries; and, as knowledge is a
portable commodity, they made the best market they could of their
nautical experience in Holland and elsewhere. Among these was one Mr
Mellish, who had been a favourite of Sir Thomas Candish, and the
companion of all his voyages. This person offered his services to the
East India Company of Holland, then in its infancy; and, his proposals
being accepted, he was employed as pilot in the circumnavigation of
Oliver van Noort, which falls next in order to be related.
§ 3. _Continuation of the Voyage of the Desire, Captain Davis, after
parting from Sir Thomas Candish_.
Not finding our general at Port Desire, as we had expected, and being
very slenderly provided, without sails, boat, oars, nails, cordage, and
other necessary stores, and very short of victuals, we were reduced to a
very unpleasant situation, not knowing how to proceed. Leaving
ourselves, however, to the providence of the Almighty, we entered the
harbour, and, by the good favour of God, we found a quiet and safe road,
which we knew not of before. Having moored our ship, by the help of the
boat belonging to the Black pinnace, we landed on the southern shore of
the bay, where we found a standing pool, which might contain some ten
tons of fresh water, by which we were greatly relieved and comforted.
From this pool we took more than forty tons of water, yet left it as
full as at first. At our former visit to this harbour, we were at this
very place and found no water, wherefore we persuaded ourselves that the
Almighty had sent this pool for our relief. We found here such
remarkably low ebbs as we had never before seen, by means of which we
procured muscles in great plenty. Providence also sent such great
abundance of smelts about our ship, that all the people were able to
take as many as they could eat, with hooks made of crooked pins. By
these means we husbanded the ship's provisions, and did not spend any of
them during our abode at this place.
Considering what was best to be done in our present circumstances, that
we might find our general, and as it was obvious we could not refit our
ship for sea in less than a month, our captain and master concluded to
take the pinnace and go in search of the general, leaving the ship and a
considerable part of the men till the return of the general, who had
vowed he would return again to the straits. Hearing of this
determination, two pestilent fellows, named Charles Parker and Edward
Smith, secretly represented to the men, that the captain and master
meant to leave them to be devoured by cannibals, and had no intention to
come back; on which the whole company secretly agreed to murder the
captain, master, and all those who were thought their friends, among
whom I was included. This conspiracy was fortunately known to our
boatswain, who revealed it to the master, and he to the captain. To
appease this mutiny the captain found it necessary to desist from his
intentions, and it was concluded not to depart, but to wait at Port
Desire for the return of the general. After this the whole company, with
one consent, made a written testimonial of the circumstances by which we
had lost company of the general, and the indispensable necessity of
returning home.
In this testimony or protest, dated Port Desire, 2d June, 1592, it is
represented, that the shrouds of the ship are all rotten, the ropes all
so decayed that they could not be trusted; the sails reduced to one
shift all worn, of which the topsails were utterly unable to abide any
stress of weather; the ship unprovided with pitch, tar, or nails for
repairs of any kind, and no means of supplying these wants; the
provisions reduced to five hogsheads of salt pork, and such quantity of
meal as admitted only an allowance of three ounces for a man each day,
and no drink remaining except water. This instrument is signed by John
Davis and Randolph Cotton, the captains of the Desire and Black pinnace,
and thirty-eight more, but the name John Jane, or Lane, does not appear
among them.
After this, they proceeded to refit the ship with all expedition, for
which purpose they built a smith's forge, making charcoal for its
supply, and made nails, bolts, and spikes. Others of the crew were
employed in making ropes from a piece of cable; and others again in all
the necessary repairs of the ship, sails, and rigging; while those not
fit for such offices, gathered muscles and caught smelts for the whole
company. Three leagues from Port Desire there is an island, having four
small isles about it, on which there are great abundance of seals, and
where likewise penguins resort in vast numbers at the breeding season.
To this island it was resolved to dispatch the Black pinnace
occasionally, to fetch seals for us to eat, when smelts and muscles
failed, for we could get no muscles at neap-tides, and only when the ebb
was very low.
In this miserable and forlorn condition we remained till the 6th of
August, 1592, still keeping watch on the hills to look out for our
general, suffering extreme anguish and vexation. Our hope of the
general's return becoming very cold, our captain and master were
persuaded that he might have gone directly for the straits; wherefore it
was concluded to go there and wait his coming, as there we could not
possibly miss seeing him if he came. This being agreed to by the whole
company, we set sail from Port Desire on the 6th August, and went to
Penguin island, where we salted twenty hogsheads of seals, which was as
much as our salt could do. We departed from Penguin island towards night
of the 7th August, intending for the straits. The 14th we were driven
among certain islands, never before discovered, fifty leagues or better
from the shore, east-northerly from the straits.[66] Fortunately the
wind shifted to the east, or we must have inevitably perished among
these islands, and we were enabled to shape our course for the straits.
[Footnote 66: These are doubtless the Falkland Islands, or Malouines,
but to which no name seems to have been affixed on this occasion.--E.]
We fell in with the cape [Virgin] on the 18th of August, in a very thick
fog, and that same night came to anchor ten leagues within the straits'
mouth. The 19th we passed the first and second narrows, doubled Cape
Froward on the 21st, and anchored on the 22d in a cove, or small bay,
which we named _Savage Cove_, because we here found savages.
Notwithstanding the excessive coldness of this place, yet do these
people go entirely naked, living in the woods like satyrs, painted and
disguised in a strange manner, and fled from us like so many wild deer.
They were very strong and agile, and threw stones at us, of three or
four pounds weight, from an incredible distance. We departed from this
cove on the 24th in the morning, and came that same day into the N.W.
reach of the straits, which is its last or most western reach. On the
25th we anchored in a good cove, within fourteen leagues of the South
Sea, where we proposed to await the return of our general, as the strait
at this place is only three miles broad, and he could not possibly pass
unseen.
After we had remained here a fortnight, in the depth of winter, our
victuals fast consuming, and our salted seals stinking most vilely, our
men fell sick and died pitifully, through famine and cold, as most of
them had not clothes sufficient to defend them from the extreme rigour
of winter. In this heavy distress, our captain and master thought it
best to depart from the straits into the South Sea, and to proceed for
the island of Santa Maria in lat. 37° S. on the coast of Chili, which is
situated in a temperate climate, where we might find relief, and could
wait for our general, who must necessarily pass by that island. We
accordingly set sail on the 13th September, and came in sight of the
South Sea. The 14th we were driven back into the straits, and got into a
cove three leagues from the South Sea. We again stood out, and being
eight or ten leagues free of the land, the wind rose furiously at W.N.W.
and we were again forced to return into the straits, not daring to trust
to our sails in any stress of weather. We again got into the cove,
three leagues from the eastern mouth of the straits, where we had such
violent weather that one of our two remaining cables broke, and we were
almost in despair of saving our lives. Yet it pleased God to allay the
fury of the storm, and we unreeved our sheets, tacks, halyards, and
other ropes, and made fast our ship to the trees on shore, close by the
rocks. We laboured hard to recover our anchor again, which we could not
possibly effect, being, as we supposed, entirely covered over in the
ooze.
We were now reduced to one anchor, which had only one whole fluke; and
had only one old cable, already spliced in two places, and a piece of
another old cable. In this extremity of trouble it pleased God that the
wind came fair on the 1st October, on which we loosed our land fastnings
with all expedition, weighed our anchor, and towed off into the channel;
for we had repaired our boat when in Port Desire, and got five oars from
the Black pinnace. On weighing our anchor we found the cable sore
broken, holding only by one strand, which was a most merciful
preservation. We now reeved our ropes and rigged our ship the best we
could, every man working as if to save our lives in the utmost
extremity. Our company was now much divided in opinion as to how we
should proceed for the best; some desiring to return to Port Desire, to
be there set on shore, and endeavour to travel by land to some of the
Spanish settlements, while others adhered to the captain and master: But
at length, by the persuasion of the master, who promised that they would
find wheat, pork, and roots in abundance at the island of St Mary,
besides the chance of intercepting some ships on the coasts of Chili and
Peru, while nothing but a cruel death by famine could be looked for in
attempting to return by the Atlantic, they were prevailed upon to
proceed.
So, on the 2d of October, 1592, we again made sail into the South Sea,
and got free from the land. This night the wind again began to blow very
strong at west, and increased with such violence that we were in great
doubt what measures to pursue. We durst not put into the straits for
lack of ground tackle, neither durst we carry sail, the tempest being
very furious, and our sails very bad. In this extremity the pinnace bore
up to us, informing she had received many heavy seas, and that her ropes
were continually failing, so that they knew not what to do; but, unable
to afford her any relief; we stood on our course in view of a lee shore,
continually dreading a ruinous end of us all. The 4th October the storm
increased to an extreme violence; when the pinnace, being to windward,
suddenly _struck a hull_, when we thought she had sustained some violent
shock of a sea, or had sprung a leak, or that her sails had failed,
because she did not follow us. But we durst not _hull_ in this
unmerciful storm, sometimes _trying_ under our main-course, sometimes
with a _haddock_ of our sail; for our ship was very _leeward_, and
laboured hard in the sea. This night we lost sight of the pinnace, and
never saw her again.
The 5th October, our foresail split, on which our master brought the
mizen-sail to the foremast to make the ship work, and we mended our
foresail with our spritsail. The storm still continued to rage with the
most extreme fury, with hail, snow, rain, and wind, such and so mighty
that it could not possibly in nature be worse; the seas running so
lofty, and with a continual breach, that we many times were in doubt
whether our ship did sink or swim. The 10th, the weather dark, the storm
as furious as ever, most of the men having given over labour from
fatigue and in despair, and being near the lee-shore by the reckoning
both of the captain and master, we gave ourselves up for lost, past all
remedy. While in this extremity of distress, the sun suddenly shone out
clear, by which the captain and master were enabled to ascertain the
latitude, and thereby knew what course to steer, so as to recover the
straits. Next day, the 11th October, we saw Cape Deseado, being the
southern point of the entrance into the straits, for the northern point
is a dangerous assemblage of rocks, shoals, and islands. The cape was
now two leagues to leeward, and the master was even in doubt whether we
might be able to steer clear of it; but there was no remedy, as we must
either succeed or be irretrievably lost.
Our master, being a man of spirit, made quick dispatch, and steered for
the straits. Our sails had not been half an hour abroad for this purpose
when the foot-rope of the fore-sail broke, so nothing held save the
oilet-holes. The sea continually broke over our poop, and dashed with
such violence against our sails, that we every moment looked to have
them torn to pieces, or that the ship would overset. To our utter
discomfort also, we perceived that she fell still more and more to
leeward, so that we could not clear the cape. We were now within half a
mile of the cape, and so near shore that the counter surge of the sea so
rebounded against the side of our ship, that the horrors of our
situation were undescribably awful. While in this utmost extremity, the
wind and the sea raging beyond measure, and momentarily expecting to be
driven upon the rocks, our master veered away some of the main-sheet:
Whether owing to this, or by some counter current, or by the wonderful
interposition of God, our ship quickened her way and shot past the rock,
where we all thought she must have perished. Between this and the cape
there was a small bay, so that we were now somewhat farther from the
shore; but on coming to the cape, we again looked for nothing but
instant death; yet God, the father of mercy, delivered us, and we
doubled the cape little more than the length of our ship. When past the
cape, we took in all our sails, and, being between the high lands, the
wind _blowing trade_, or steadily in the direction of the straits, we
spooned before the sea under bare poles, three men being unable to
manage the helm, and in six hours we were driven twenty-five leagues
within the straits.
In this time we freed our ship from water, and when we had rested a
while, our men became unable to move, their sinews being stiff, and
their flesh as if dead. Many of them were so covered and eaten with
lice, that there lay clusters of them in their flesh as large as peas,
yea, some as big as beans. In this state of misery we were constrained
to put into a cove to refresh our men, where we moored to the trees as
we had done before, our only anchor being to seaward. We here continued
till the 20th of October; and being unable to continue longer, through
the extremity of famine, we again put off into the channel on the 22d,
the weather being then reasonably calm. Before night the wind blew hard
at W.N.W. The storm waxed so violent that our men could scarcely stand
to their labour; and the straits being full of turnings and windings, we
had to trust entirely to the discretion of the captain and master to
guide the ship during the darkness of the night, when we could see no
shore, and the straits were in some places scarcely three miles broad.
When we first passed these straits, our captain made so excellent a
draught of them, as I am confident cannot in any sort be made more
correct. Which draught he and the master so carefully considered, that
they had every turning, creek, and head-land so perfectly in their
memory, as enabled them, even in the deepest darkness of the night,
undoubtingly to convey the ship through that crooked channel.
The 25th October we came to an island in the straits, named Penguine
Isle, where the boat was sent ashore to seek relief, as it abounded
with birds, and the weather was calm; so we came to anchor near the
island, in seven fathoms. While the boat was ashore, where we got
abundance of penguins, there rose a sudden storm, by which our ship was
driven over a breach, and our boat sunk at the shore. Captain Cotton and
the lieutenant, who were both on shore, leapt into the boat, and freed
it of water, throwing away the birds, and with great difficulty got back
to the ship. All this time the ship was driving upon the lee-shore; and
when we got on board, we helped to weigh the anchor and make sail. Thus,
in a severe storm, we got clear of the straits on the 27th October; and
on the 30th we got to that Penguin Island which is three leagues from
Port Desire, where we purposed to seek relief. Immediately on coming to
this isle, our boat was sent ashore, and returned laden with birds and
eggs, the men reporting that the penguins were so thick on the isle,
that even ships might be laden with them, as they could not step without
treading on these birds; at which news we greatly rejoiced.
Then the captain appointed Charles Parker and Edmund Smith, with twenty
others, to go on shore, and remain on the island, on purpose to kill and
dry these penguins: promising to send others when the ship was safe in
harbour, not only for expedition, but to save the small store of
victuals that remained in the ship. But Parker and Smith, with the rest
of their faction, remembering that this was the place where they
intended formerly to have slain the captain and master, thought it was
meant here to leave them on shore out of revenge, and refused to land.
After some altercation, these men were allowed to proceed in the ship,
and ten others were left in the island. The last day of October we
entered the harbour of Port Desire. The master, having at our being
there before taken notice of every creek in the river, ran our ship
aground in a very convenient place on the sandy ooze, laying our anchor
out to seawards, and mooring her with the running ropes to stakes on
shore, in which situation the ship remained till our departure.
The 3d November our boat was sent off for Penguin Island, with wood and
water, and as many men as she could carry; but, being deep laden, she
durst not proceed, and returned again the same night. Then Parker,
Smith, Townsend, Purpet, and five others, desired that they might go by
land, and that the boat might fetch them from the shore opposite the
isle, being scarcely a mile across. The captain bid them do as they
thought best, only advised them to carry weapons, as they might meet
with savages; so they accordingly carried calivers, swords, and targets,
departing by land on the 6th November, while the boat went by sea. But
these nine men were never more heard of. On the 11th, when most of our
men were at the island, only the captain, master, and five more
remaining in the ship, there came a great multitude of savages to the
shore beside the ship, throwing dust into the air, leaping and running
about like so many beasts, having vizards on their faces like dogs, or
else their faces actually resembled dogs. We greatly feared they would
have set the ship on fire, for they would suddenly make fire, at which
we were greatly astonished. They came to windward of the ship, and set
the bushes on fire, so that we were enveloped in a very stinking smoke;
but coming within shot of us, we fired at them, and hitting one on the
thigh, they all fled instantly away, and we never heard or saw them
more. Hence we judged that these savages had slain our nine men, who
were the ringleaders of those who would formerly have murdered our
captain and master, with the rest of their friends; so that God
evidently drew just judgment upon them, and we supplicated his divine
Majesty to be merciful to us.
While we lay in this harbour, our captain and master went one day in the
boat to see how far the river could be penetrated, that if need enforced
us, it might be known how far we might proceed by water. They found that
this river was only navigable by the boat for twenty miles. On their
return, the boat was sent to Penguin Island, by which we learnt that the
penguins dried to our entire satisfaction, and were in infinite numbers.
This penguin is shaped like a bird, having stumps only in place of
wings, by which it swims under water as swiftly as any fish. They live
upon smelts, which are found in vast abundance on this coast. In eating,
these penguins seem neither fish nor flesh. They lay large eggs; and the
bird is about as large as two ducks. All the time we remained at Port
Desire, we fared well on penguins and their eggs, young seals, young
gulls, and other birds of which I know not the names, all of which we
had in vast abundance. In this place also we found plenty of an herb
called scurvy-grass, which we eat fried in seal-oil along with eggs,
which so purified the blood, that it entirely removed all kind of
swellings, of which many had died, and restored us all to as perfect
health as when we first left England.
We remained in this harbour till the 22d of December, 1592, in which
time we had dried 20,000 penguins. In this time also the captain, with
the master and I, made some salt, by filling some holes in the rocks
with sea-water, which in six days was changed to salt by evaporation, it
being now Midsummer in this southern hemisphere. Thus did God feed us in
the desert, even as with manna from heaven. The 22d December we departed
from Port Desire for Penguin island, where, with great difficulty, we
got 14,000 of the dried birds on board, during which we had nearly lost
our captain; and had not our master been very expert in the set of the
tides, which ran in many cross directions, we had lost our ship.
We now shaped our course for Brazil, under a regulated allowance of
provisions, so that our victuals might last six months, in which time we
hoped we might get back to England, though our sails were very bad. This
allowance was, two ounces and a half of meal for each man, two days only
in the week, or five ounces for a week; three days a week, three
spoonfulls of oil were allowed to each man; two days a week, a pint of
peas among four men; and every day five dried penguins among four men,
with six quarts of water each day to four men. With this allowance,
praised be God, we lived, though weak and feeble.
The 30th January, 1593, we arrived at the isle of Placencia, or Ilha
Grande, in Brazil, the first place at which we touched when outwards
bound. The ship laying off at sea, the captain went aland in the boat
with twenty-four men, being the whole night before he could reach the
shore. He landed next day at sun-rise, hoping to catch the Portuguese in
their houses, and by that means to procure a supply of casava meal; but
on coming to the houses, we found them all burnt to the ground, so that
we thought no one had remained on the island. The captain then went to
the gardens, whence he brought a quantity of fruits and roots for the
company, and returned on board. He then brought the ship into a fine
creek, where she was moored to the trees on each side, at a place where
we had plenty of fresh water. Our case being very desperate, we
presently set to work to trim and repair our water-casks, the coopers
making new hoops; while others laboured to repair the sails, keeping
always a guard on shore, and every man having always his weapons ready
at hand. The 3d February, thirty men well armed went to the gardens,
three miles from where the ship lay, to dig cassavi-roots, to serve our
company instead of bread. This was again repeated on the 5th. They
laboured in quietness all the morning; and about ten o'clock, the heat
being extreme, they came to a rock near the side of the wood, where they
boiled cassavi-roots for dinner. After dinner, some went to sleep, and
others to bathe in the sea, no one keeping watch, not a match lighted,
nor even a piece charged. While in this unprovided state, and out of
sight from the ship, there came suddenly upon them a multitude of
Portuguese and Indians, who slew them all to the number of thirteen, two
only escaping, one of these very sore hurt, and the other not touched,
from whom we learnt the circumstances of this sad massacre.
We manned the boat with all speed, and went ashore, if happily we might
succour our men; but we found them all slain, and laid naked in a row,
with their faces upwards, and a cross set up beside them. We saw also
two large pinnaces coming from Rio de Janeiro, full of men, who, as we
supposed, were intended to take us. We were now much reduced, as of
seventy-six persons we had on board when we left England, there were now
only twenty-seven of us remaining, thirty-two having died formerly, and
thirteen being slain in this place. Between those formerly slain by the
savages at Port Desire, and those now in the island of Placencia by the
Portuguese, all those who had conspired to murder our captain and master
were now cut off, the gunner only excepted. Our casks were so greatly
decayed, that we could not take in a sufficient supply of water, and
what we had was exceedingly bad. Having lost several muskets on shore,
which had belonged to our slain men, with good store of powder and shot,
we expected to be beaten from our decks by means of our own weapons, by
the Portuguese on the island, joined by those coming from Janeiro: and
as we were moored to the trees, for want of cables and anchors, we were
in dread of having our mooring ropes cut. In this miserable state we
knew not what measures to pursue. To depart with only eight tons of bad
water, and in bad casks, were to run the risk of starving at sea, and to
remain seemed inevitable ruin. These were severe alternatives; but in
our perplexity we preferred trusting to the hand of God than to the
mercy of our enemies, and concluded to depart. Wherefore, on the 6th
February, we unmoored and removed our ship into the channel, putting all
our ordnance and small arms in readiness in case of an assault, and
having a small gale of wind, we put to sea in deep distress.
Thus bemoaning our sad estate, and recounting our past misfortunes, we
came to Cape Frio; being much crossed for three weeks by contrary winds,
and our water running short, we were reduced to the utmost distress and
perplexity. Some of the people were desirous of going into Bahia, and
submitting to the Portuguese, rather than die of thirst; but our captain
persuaded them against this measure. In this extremity, it pleased God
to send us such abundant rain, that we were enabled to supply ourselves
with water. On getting into the hot climate near the line, our dried
penguins began to corrupt, and there bred in them many loathsome worms,
an inch in length. These worms increased with astonishing rapidity,
devouring our victuals so fast that we now seemed doomed to die of
famine, as before of thirst We were even in danger of being eaten up by
these worms, which devoured every thing except iron. They so gnawed the
timbers of our ship, that we feared they would eat holes through her
sides. We used every possible contrivance to destroy these noisome
vermin, but they seemed only to increase so much the more, so that at
last they would eat our flesh, and bite us like mosquitoes when we were
asleep.
In this woeful plight, after we had passed the equator towards the
north, our men began to fall sick of a most terrible disease, such as, I
believe, was never before heard of. It began with a swelling in their
ankles, which in two days rose up as high as their breasts, so that they
could not breathe. It then fell into the scrotum, which, with the penis,
swelled in a most grievous manner, so that they could neither stand,
walk, nor lie; and many of them became frantic with grief and distress.
Our captain, with extreme distress of mind, was in so miserable a
condition, that he wished to die; yet, while scarcely able to speak for
sorrow, he continued to exhort us all to patience and reliance on God,
desiring us to accept our chastisement like dutiful and thankful
children. In this state of misery and wretchedness, several died raving
mad, and others in a most loathsome state, or in dreadful pain and
agony. None in the ship remained in perfect health, except the captain
and one boy; the master also, though oppressed with extreme labour and
anxiety, bore up with spirit, so that his disease did not overcome him.
At length all our men died except sixteen, five only of whom were able
to move. These were, the captain, who was in good health, the master
indifferent, Captain Cotton and myself swollen and short-winded, yet
better than the other sick men, and the boy in good health. Upon us five
the whole labour of the ship rested. The captain and master, as happened
to be necessary, took in and left out the topsails. The master by
himself attended to the sprit-sail, and all of us the capstan, being
utterly unable to work sheets and tacks. Our misery and weakness were so
extreme, that we were utterly unable to take in or set a sail; so that
our top-sails and sprit-sail were at length torn in pieces by the
weather. The captain and master had to take their turns at the helm,
where they were inexpressibly grieved and distressed by the continual
and sad lamentations of our few remaining sick men.
Thus lost wanderers on the ocean, unable to help ourselves, it pleased
God, on the 11th of June, 1593, that we arrived at Beerhaven in Ireland,
and ran the ship there on shore. The Irish helped us to take in our
sails, and to moor the ship so as to float her off next tide; for which
slender aid it cost the captain ten pounds, before he could get the ship
into a state of safety. Thus, without men, sails, victuals, or other
means, God alone guided us into Ireland. Here the captain left the
master and three or four more of the company to keep the ship; and
within five days after our arrival, he and some others got a passage in
a fishing-boat to Padstow in Cornwall. For the merciful preservation of
this our small remnant, and our restoration to our country, be all
honour and glory to God, now and for ever.--_Amen_.
CHAPTER IV.
VOYAGE OF OLIVER VAN NOORT ROUND THE WORLD IN 1598--1601.[67]
* * * * *